Summary Impact Type

Research Subject Area(s)

Download original

Summary of the impact

Our award-winning work (Aviva/Earthwatch International Award 2006) on
measuring growth of corals in relation to climate and environmental
changes linked to capacity building has informed managers and
policy-makers in developing countries of the measures required for an
integrated system of conservation and management. In Jamaica, our research
on modelling coral growth linked to discussions with local stakeholders
and the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) showed that
implementation of co-operative management plans can allow reef ecosystems
to withstand major physical effects; these plans have been implemented. In
Belize, we worked with local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the
Fisheries Department to enable them to both measure and model coral reef
growth, and so develop methods for sustaining their reefs. Our work has
enabled reef managers in Jamaica and Belize to monitor their reefs and
they have put in place new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) so that their
reefs can be protected in times of climate and environmental change. This
has resulted in increased fishing yields in both countries.

Underpinning research

Research on coral reef systems was started at the University of
Bedfordshire (UoB) in 2005 with the appointment of Professor James Crabbe
from the University of Reading. Novel computational models for coral
growth were developed, working initially on reefs in Indonesia in the
Coral Triangle. This was possible because of the equipment, expertise in
computing, and facilities available at UoB. We quantified the
size-structure of populations and the growth rates of corals in the
Caribbean from 2000-2008 to test whether coral colonies on fringing reefs
near Discovery Bay (Jamaica) or those on the Meso-American Barrier Reef
(Belize) showed resilience in the face of multiple acute stressors of
hurricanes and bleaching, in addition to overfishing and land development
(3.1). There was a major Caribbean-wide bleaching event in 2005, which
resulted in major losses of living coral on Jamaican reefs in 2006 and
2007. At many reefs live coral cover increased in both 2007 and 2008.
These studies indicated good levels of coral resilience on the fringing
reefs around Discovery Bay in Jamaica. We also collaborated with an
Australian coral reef scientist (Mallela) in work on Tobago reefs which
supported the previous work in Jamaica and Belize (3.2). We then
collaborated with other coral reef scientists and the USA National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) linking orbiting satellite data with
underwater observations to develop a predictive tool for coral bleaching
and mortality (3.3).

Work at the University of Bedfordshire then showed that there were
significant linear relationships between reef rugosity (three-dimensional
complexity) and the growth and survival of young corals. Our findings
suggested that three dimensional topography and complexity is important
for reef resilience and viability in the face of environmental stressors
such as bleaching, and also supported the idea that aggregated spatial
arrangements of corals can influence the outcome of inter-specific
competition and promote species coexistence, important in times of reef
recovery after disturbance (3.4). Our work using capacity building in
Belize (3.5) linked environmental and social science techniques to produce
action plans for reef managers. We developed a collaboration with
scientists at the Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Systems Biology at
Fudan University (ranked 5th of all Chinese Universities) in
Shanghai, and studied metabolic robustness under environmental stress —
including high CO2 concentrations — using a novel method —
Minimization Of Metabolic Adjustment Dynamic Flux Balance Analysis
(M-DFBA). Our work suggested that highly cooperative regulation assures
the robustness of biological systems, and that there is closer cooperation
under perturbation conditions than under normal conditions (3.6). Further
developments of modelling coral reef growth and resilience in the
Caribbean ensued (e.g. 3.6). Our collaboration with Fudan University has
extended to other environmental areas of high impact, for example using
modelling to show industrial pollution in China due to transfer of
industry (Zheng, W., et al. 2013. Scientific Reports 3,
1031; DOI:10.1038/srep01031), working with environmentally challenged
organisms, where we have shown horizontal gene transfer (Li, X. et al.
2013. PLoS ONE 8(3): e58747), and environmental regulation of gene
expression (Yang, Z., et al. 2012. BMC Genomics 13,
doi:10.1186/1471-2164-13-S7-S14).

3.4. Crabbe, M.J.C. (2010) Topography and spatial arrangement of
reef-building corals on the fringing reefs of North Jamaica may influence
their response to disturbance from bleaching. Marine Environmental
Research 69, 158-162. (3*; IF = 2.48)

Details of the impact

REACH:
Coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, and are the
most threatened from climate change. Coral reefs provide a habitat from
which 6 million tons of fish are caught annually, providing income and
food for local communities. Reefs also act as breakwaters, protecting the
land and nearby coastal communities. Economists estimate that the reefs
are worth several billions of dollars in the Caribbean alone. Our work has
been important throughout the Caribbean, for example Jamaica, and the
second largest barrier reef in the world — the Meso-American Barrier Reef,
from Mexico through Belize to Guatemala and Honduras. As a result of our
research, Crabbe, as research leader, was invited to take part in the EDGE
programme by the Zoological Society of London (5.1) and the Coral Reef
Crisis Working Group, by the Royal Society (5.2). The former produced a
new scheme for funding conservation of coral reefs throughout the world,
and the latter produced a report that was a major environmental
consideration at the 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen
in 2009 and produced the Copenhagen Accord.

SIGNIFICANCE:
Our research informed policymakers throughout the Caribbean, and as a
result Crabbe was invited to develop management action plans for policy
developers in the Caribbean, concentrating on two countries, Jamaica and
Belize. In Jamaica, in 2010, this led to work with the National
Environmental Protection Agency, part of the Government, to develop their
plans for marine protected areas (MPAs). In June 2013 this involved
working with government officials from the wider Caribbean and the USA.
The Jamaican government has now agreed to the development and
implementation of more effective MPAs around its coastline, as discussed
at the recent Caribbean Challenge Initiative (5.3). To inform public
debate, Crabbe has often been interviewed on Jamaican radio about
environmental issues, most recently in August 2013 concerning the Portland
Bight Reserve near Kingston.

In Belize, this led to a capacity-building exercise around MPAs in the
Meso-American Barrier Reef, which involved both local NGO community
workers and the government fisheries department, the last so that
community engagement could be directly interfaced with fisheries
operations and policy. Personal action plans were developed to facilitate
the future of sustainable MPAs in the MesoAmerican Barrier Reef system. An
NGO participant said `For the first time we were able to engage with
someone from the Fisheries Department to make a significant change to reef
preservation'. A fisheries manager said `As a result of this exercise we
can collaborate to protect our reefs and enhance our fisheries'. The
capacity building case study, uniquely involving the participants to
directly make measurements of coral growth and recruitment on coral reefs,
has produced new ideas to improve organisation, management, education,
support, and policy development in MPAs in Southern Belize (5.5). All
participants felt that training and capacity building to key staff members
was important, since this enabled them to enhance their skills in the
field thus raising their standards to a certain level so as to perform
better. The participants have agreed to maintain iterations among and
between their constituent groups to ensure continued sustainability of
both the reef and the fishing practices.

Involvement of the Department of Fisheries in our capacity building has
resulted in direct transfer of information to the communities and the
Government. The Director of Fisheries later said `This was an important
undertaking which has resulted in increased GDP from our fishing
industry'. The personal action plans that were produced have been
implemented, and taken back into their constituent communities. A key
outcome of our work has been that in Southern Belize three NGOs TASTE
(Toledo Association for Sustainable Tourism and Empowerment), TIDE (Toledo
Institute for Development and Environment) and Friends of Nature have been
incorporated into a single self-governing organisation, which spans four
MPAs (Marine Protected Ares). This means that areas between MPAs which
were previously subject to illegal fishing activity are now monitored and
policed. The merger has enabled assessment and enforcement across four
different MPAs. It also means greater efficiency per unit area in terms of
MPA management. In summary, our approach as part of a complex relationship
linking an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management has resulted
in greater engagement from all stakeholders (5.4 - 5.6).

CONTRIBUTION:
Both these examples, in Jamaica and Belize, have important economic
impacts, based on our work at the University of Bedfordshire. Belize has
the highest annual capture production — the annual volume of aquatic
species caught by country for all commercial, industrial, recreational and
subsistence purposes, in 2010, for countries in the Caribbean for which
data is available. In 2010, Belize had 11.86% of its territorial waters as
MPAs (compared to <2% in 2000), again, the highest value in the
Caribbean where data is available. Having a large percentage of its
territorial waters as MPAs, and in a coordinated network, reflects in the
value of a country's fishing industry. Our research has influenced the
increasing development of MPAs in the Caribbean.

In Belize, the fishing industry contributed 7.2% of the county's GDP in
2001, and our new measures (implemented in 2012) have enabled more
efficient use of marine staff time, by employing NGO staff, as well as
increasing the numbers of fish and invertebrates caught legally and
sustainably by Belize fishermen. This has increased the valuable lobster,
conch and snapper catches by c. 15% by mid-2013 from its value of c. 850
tonnes in 2007. In Jamaica, fishing is more a cottage industry, while the
reefs are an important part of the tourist industry. The new co-operative
management plans as a result of our research have multiple benefits —
increase in yields for the local fishermen, and help preserve the reefs as
a part of Jamaican ecosystems, while attracting increasing numbers of
international tourists, now approaching 2 million per annum (5.6). In both
countries, the measures adopted as a result of our research have promoted
the resilience of the coral reefs to increasing global warming and climate
change as well as increased income from fisheries.

5.6. The Marine Professional. Reef Resilience in the Caribbean.
March 2013, p.8.

Contact Head of Marine Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona
Campus, Kingston, Jamaica; and Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory — for the
impact of our work in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, with the National
Environmental Protection Agency and local stakeholders, on the development
and implementation of new marine protected areas leading to sustainable
management of coral reefs and increased income from fishing.

Contact Executive Vice-President, the Earthwatch Institute (www.earthwatch.org)
— for the impact of our knowledge transfer and capacity building work in
Belize and elsewhere, with the Fisheries Department and local
non-governmental organisations, linked to the development and
implementation of new marine protected areas leading to sustainable
management of coral reefs and increased income from fishing.